Rock Hill violence: Guns plus felons equals to prison or death

Courtrooms late Wednesday in York County served as the backdrop for an unyielding and inevitable truth: Guns plus felons equals prison or death.

Into court shuffled a young man, age 18, named Quinteris Miller, who wanted to fire his court-appointed lawyer. The lawyer’s name is Mindy Lipinski and her skill and passion are legend as both a defense lawyer the past decade and former prosecutor.

But it was said in court that Miller – accused of murder in August 2015 of a man named Anthony Hart and accused of shooting into a home occupied by at least 10 people just days before that where he piled up an even 10 counts of attempted murder – was unhappy with plea negotiations with prosecutors.

Miller also is accused of beating up an inmate in jail since his arrest and even tearing off sprinkler heads in the jail.

“Mr. Miller is not happy with the plea negotiations,” said prosecutor Willy Thompson in court.

In court in February, it was revealed that Miller took the gun used in the killing of Hart from another felon as payback for being hit in the head with a brick. Yet, prosecutors say, Miller shot the wrong man. Miller killed an innocent person who had nothing to do with the feud.

Lipinski, citing the media’s presence in the courtroom, declined to say to the judge what the plea offers had been. But if Miller does not like what has been offered thus far, it’s likely he will not leave prison –ever – if he pleads guilty.

Judge Dan Hall, a prosecutor and public defender for 25 years before becoming a judge last year, refused Miller’s request to fire his lawyer and explained, patiently, that Miller is entitled to a lawyer because he is poor. But he is not entitled to any plea deal. Prosecutors do not have to offer anything. Murder carries up to life. Attempted murder times 10 means something far worse.

Miller went back to jail under the courthouse where his 19 felonies are pending.

Next up was Quintonio Porter, 23, a convicted drug and weapon felon barred from having a gun. Porter and two others were in a car March 4 in Rock Hill when they were ambushed, prosecutors say. The car was shot at several times, Porter was hit, and then Porter pulled out his illegal gun but got tangled up with the seat belt. He fired anyway and one of his bullets, prosecutors say, struck his friend in the back seat. Jarrius Harding, 18, died.

Police say the shootout was with another convicted felon with a gun named Keenan Miller who remains in jail charged with three counts of attempted murder.

Prosecutors agree Porter shot in self-defense but say he has a “dangerous nature” of guns and bullets after felonies.

Judge Hall did not stop for even a sip of water when Sylvester Thrower was brought into court in chains and leg irons. He wore horned-rim glasses and spoke with great respect and looked as if he should be on a college campus.

Yet his campus is a jail cell. Thrower is 18 years old and already a convicted felon. Prosecutors said Thrower hid the gun he used in a book bag.

Like Quinteris Miller, Thrower is accused of breaking a sprinkler head in jail under the courtrooms while trying to flood the place – he protected his stuff first with a sheet.

Thrower also is accused of firing shots on a street and at a lady’s house last year.

Thrower’s sisters were targeted by a “gang” of juveniles, testimony showed and even prosecutors agree, so Thrower, a felon who still had an illegal gun, started shooting in the middle of a busy Jefferson Avenue at the fleeing teens. He allegedly sprayed bullets all over including into the home of a woman nearby who let out a shriek and called police to stop the mayhem on her street.

Thrower’s shooting into homes, at fleeing teens long after the initial incident, showed “an utter disregard for human life,” said longtime 16th Circuit Assistant Solicitor Misti Shelton, who has prosecuted gun felonies for almost as long as Thrower has been alive.

The woman in her home could have been killed, Shelton said in court. Anyone on the street, a bunch of people, could have been hurt.

Thrower was offered a 5-year plea deal. He was facing far more and would have gotten far more if anyone was hurt.

Thrower’s lawyer, 16th Circuit Chief Public Defender Harry Dest, who spoke about Thrower’s intelligence as among the best he has ever met in a client, laid it out plain in court that defending your sisters with a gun is a poor choice.

“Street justice is not the same as legal justice,” Dest said.

Hall, the judge, told Thrower that he had been given many chances after convictions and chose instead to stand in a busy street and shoot into homes. So Hall gave Thrower the max under the deal: five years in prison.

The court of gun violence ended for the day.

The tally: two dead, some wounded and more terrified victims of gun crimes.

This story was originally published April 28, 2016 at 8:26 PM with the headline "Rock Hill violence: Guns plus felons equals to prison or death."